Hello, All --

Today I just have some random pictures and not a lot at that, so this post will be short.

First of all (I don't think I've shown you this before), one of our January brides.  I was happy it didn't rain that day so the pictures would be nice for her.  (Speaking of rain, can you tell the hills in the background are green after being brown for 10 months?)

That same month, this cholita from the La Paz area came to the temple for several days.  This is a typical "dress up" outfit for her culture. All the embroidery is handwork and it is very expensive. The total cost is probably between 1,000 and 2,000 Bolivianos.  Notice her white shoes.  The shoes always match the skirt. Also notice the hat.  I do not know how they keep the hats on, but I've never seen one blow or fall off!

This is just so you can see how short she is!

Farron talked with her a little bit.  

She has a farm out in the campo somewhere which her sons help her run.

We tend to think of the cholitas as very poor - and some are - but not all.

This is a view of the Cine Center (multi-plex movie theater) which has a big food court on the ground floor.
We go there from time to time for a cheap meal.  They have a soft ice cream place that makes hot fudge sundaes almost as good as Dairy Queen's.

These two pictures were taken just north of the Cine Center looking at the flooding river.

It rained a LOT in January and the river looked like liquid mud.  Yuck!! 

This lovely bride was married on Valentine's Day.

We weren't actually on duty that morning and only stopped to ask if we could take their picture.

Instead they asked to have their pictures taken with us.

(That tag on Farron's suit - Presidente Farron Harrison -
impresses people much more than it should!)

Having trouble with these photos today - I don't know what's going on - but that's why these captions are all over the place and all different sizes of font, etc.  This is a yellow jacaranda tree, or so I'm told.
 The leaves are NOT like a California (purple) jacaranda at all, so I'm a little sceptical, but maybe they're right.

I may have shown you a natural gas station before, but since I have this really good picture I thought I'd make sure to give you a good look.  About 80-90% of the vehicles here in Cochabamba run on natural gas (with a back-up gasoline option if they have to climb steep hills, i.e., to get out of the city.)

A lovely March bride.  That's her mother on her left and the Hursts to our right.

Here's something I think you'll find interesting.  In California we have the Cal-Trans workers who keep the freeway medians clean and in La Verne we have the Parks Department that takes care of public areas. I don't know who pays these ladies but that's the job they are doing - the hard way, by hand.  No power mowers, weed-eaters, or any other modern conveniences.  Just old-fashioned hoes and scythes and a lot of old-fashioned hard work.  (They are working on the median that divides the big avenue that runs past the temple and on down to the river - Avenida Melchor Urquidi.)

 

Isn't it interesting, by the way, that it's the women who are doing this work and not men?  Don't ask me why; I haven't a clue.









Okay, that's it for today.  Sorry not to have more exciting stuff, but things are pretty "same ol', same ol' " around here right now.  Be safe, be well, be happy - and vayan con Dios!